The Effects of Block Scheduling - school schedules

School Administrator, March, 1999 by Michael D. Rettig, Robert Lynn Canady

This practice becomes a major problem with parents and students by the third year a school is in the 4/4 schedule as students' choices are reduced. We suggest that such classes be embedded in the 4/4 schedule on an A/B basis.

Creating Lesson Plans

The third key to successful implementation of block scheduling is sustained staff development. Most teachers in block-scheduled schools plan lessons that include at least three different approaches or activities. For example, during one block a teacher might provide a short lecture to explain a new concept, an activity that asks students to apply that concept and several questions that review material and ask students to synthesize the explanation and application.

The most difficult aspects of a lesson plan for high school teachers seem to be the development of appropriate activities for the application phase of a lesson and the management of pacing and transitions. Just providing teachers with assistance with various teaching strategies is not sufficient. Many teachers also need help in building those strategies into appropriate lesson plans. Therefore, we highly recommend that staff development include both generic and subject-specific assistance.

Finally, the fourth key to successful implementation is the design and implementation of a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan. A variety of data should be collected and analyzed on an annual basis. Decisions regarding schedule revisions and the need for specific staff development activities should be informed by these data.

Potential Impact

In reviewing the data collected about block scheduling, overwhelming evidence bolsters the view that a school environment can be affected positively by either an A/B or a 4/4 schedule. Sufficient data suggest that students' academic performance is not harmed and many individual schools, based on several selected variables, have reported increases in student performance.

We realize that block scheduling alone is not a panacea for the problems in American education. However, a school schedule can have an enormous impact on a school's instructional climate. We believe that hundreds of high schools across the nation have reaffirmed what we stated five years ago that scheduling is an untapped resource that can serve as a catalyst for major school improvements. Clearly there is sufficient evidence to encourage the journey to continue.

Michael Rettig is an associate professor of education at James Madison University, MSC 1903, Harrisonburg, Va. 22807. E-mail: rettigmd@jmu.edu. Robert Lynn Canady is a professor of educational leadership and policy studies at University of Virginia.

Good Schools, Too, Turn to Block Scheduling

During presentations to educator audiences and visits to schools, we often hear from critics and skeptics. One common refrain goes like this: "The 4/4 schedule might be OK for schools with many discipline problems and a large number of low-achieving students, but we don't need it at our school!"

Running counter to this claim are two different yet highly successful high schools that have adopted the 4/4 block schedule--in which students take four classes of roughly 90 minutes each semester--as the catalyst to their schoolwide improvement efforts: Angola High School in Angola, Ind., and Thomas Edison High School in Fairfax County, Va.